A Night Out
by Talyn
Summary: Murphy's Law seems to hit especially hard on superheroes trying to live 'normal' lives. Violet deals with teenage crushes, obnoxious little brothers, oblivious parents, and, oh yeah, saving the world before curfew.
1. Preparations

**AN:**  Well, my first story seemed to go over well, but people wanted to read more about the kids!  So, without any further ado, this is the story of the alluded-to date between Violet Parr and Tony Ridinger.  This takes place two days after the end of the movie (the track meet was on a Wednesday).  The Underminer has been temporarily defeated, but he got away.  Bob and Helen are working with the national guard to catch him.

**Disclaimer**:  All characters belong to Disney and Pixar.  This story is written for entertainment purposes only.

**Chapter 1:  Preparations**

Every thirteen-year-old girl had problems – it just happened that Violet Parr's problems extended well past those that most of her classmates at Metroville Middle School had to face. And right now, these problems seemed to all be coming to a head at once.

She could hear her Dad on the phone right now, arguing with Colonel Somebody-or-other of the military, trying to set up a surveillance system capable of finding where the Underminer had hidden all of those burrowing vehicles of his. Mom was doing the dishes and keeping Jack-Jack from making a mess of the remains of his dinner, and Dash was being as irritating as possible.

"Vi, I'm bored. Can we _do_ something?" he whined for at least the thirtieth time in the past fifteen minutes.

Violet rolled her eyes and pulled her hair back behind her ears. "Fine. Want to race?"

"REALLY?"

"No."

Dash pouted. "Aw, you're just being mean because Dad's hogging the phone, and you can't talk to _Tony_..." he sing-songed.

"Shut up, weevil!" It was even more irritating because he was right. She and Tony were supposed to be going to see a movie... _Tony asked me to the movies_, she was sidetracked long enough to do a little happy dance... in less than an hour, and if Dad never got off the phone, she wouldn't know where to meet him!

"Dad," she pleaded, "I really need to call Tony... can't you talk to whoever..."

"Whomever," her mom corrected absently from her spot at the kitchen sink.

"...sorry Mom, _whomever_ it is you are talking to on the Incrediphone?"

Her dad put his enormous hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "Violet, I'm working here. It'll be a few more minutes."

"Dad..." she whined.

"Not while I'm on the phone, please!"

"God! Fine, ruin my life, its not like _you _care!" she shouted, stomping up the stairs to her room. She was hoping to get a good sulk in and then try again, since Dad was usually pretty reasonable if she complained enough. Her plan was diverted when she found Dash lying on her bed (with his sneakers on) reading her _Teen _magazine.

"What are you doing in my room?"

Dash ignored the question, continuing to idly leaf through the magazine. "Do you actually _read_ this?"

"Yes, I _read_ it," she said mockingly, striding over the room and snatching it out of his hands. ("Hey!") "Now get out of my room so I can get ready!"

Boy, was _that_ the wrong thing to say. Dash got off the bed and then began bouncing around the room at about a hundred miles an hour, being as obnoxious as possible. "Gotta get ready for your date with _Tony_... oh, Tony, you're so cute... mwah mwah mwah..." he said, making hideous kissing faces.

Violet clenched her teeth and counted to ten. It didn't help. "Would you please _get out_?"

"Is he gonna _kiss_ you? I know you want him to..."

"That's it!" Violet shouted, creating a force field that 'bounced' Dash out of the room and into the hall. She slammed the door shut and locked it as fast as she could. She heard Dash muttering as he walked down the hall to his room.

"Fine, whatever, not like anyone was ever gonna kiss her anyways, she's mean..."

Violet sighed, and went back to her vanity mirror. Rummaging around for her makeup, she found a pretty blue hairpin. She held it up to her head, checked the look in the mirror, and then discarded it – the darker ones were better.

She looked in the mirror again, and reached for her makeup. After much deliberation, she picked it up, and then put it down again – she'd already adjusted her makeup four times this evening, another time was _not_ going to help. Besides, she was only going to the movies – what was the big deal?

_The big deal? _Going to the movies with _Tony Ridinger_, football captain, exemplar of junior-high coolness, and all around nice guy... "Oh God! I'm going to get there and look _horrible_ and Tony is going be wonder what he was thinking asking me out... get a grip, Violet," she ordered herself forcefully. "You can deal with armed mercenaries trying to kill you and a psycho mole-man out to destroy the city. Therefore, you can deal with going on a date. You _will_ be fine."

She wondered briefly if Mom ever had problems like this, and then shuddered at the thought of Mom and Dad _dating_. Ew. Some things did not bear thinking about. The very idea of Mom putting on makeup and doing her hair to impress her father was enough to temporarily put her off dating altogether. It wasn't that her parents were gross or anything, its just that they were, well, her parents. They were _old_, and she, like every other thirteen-year-old on the planet, temporarily forgot that they had been young once, too.

She picked up a brush and started brushing her hair while she encouraged herself. "Besides," she said aloud, "I look nice. I've got nice eyes and a good smile and, um, interesting hair? I can be funny... sometimes. And I'm self-confident! Well, most of the time."

Someone was knocking on the door. _Not again_. "Go away, Dash! You've been really annoying all night and I don't feel like dealing with you right now!"

"Violet, Tony is on the phone, he wants to talk to you," came her mother's voice from the other side of the door. She sounded amused.

_Must unlock door.  Where is that key?  _Violet immediately started tearing apart the room looking for her room key. "Um, just a second, Mom! I locked the door 'cuz Dash was being annoying and can't find the key!"

"She'll be just a second, Tony." Mom was _definitely_ laughing now. Violet tossed her bedsheets off the bed, thinking the key might have fallen behind it. "If you'd like, dear, we could have your father come up here and knock the door down," came the unhelpful suggestion from the hall.

"This isn't funny, Mom!" _Ah ha! Found it!_

The key slid into the lock with a snick, and Violet jerked it open and snatched the phone from her mother's hand while the older woman tried very hard not to smile. "Tony? Hi!" Violet said, a little breathlessly.

"Hey Vi," came Tony's voice from the phone. "How's it going?"

"Oh, um, good, you know," she stammered. _Very articulate, Vi_. "Just been getting ready." _Better_.

"Ok. Hey, I'm just making sure that we were meeting up outside the theater at six. Do you think we might, um, I mean, do you want to grab some dinner at the food court before the movie?"

"Uh, yeah, six sounds good! My dad is going into town tonight, he can drop me off. And food court sounds good. They have good Chinese food there, I think."

She could almost hear him giving his trademark grin. "Ok, but remember you said you'd buy the popcorn!"

"Well, maybe I will – if you're nice enough to me," Violet shot back, giggling a little. _Oh my god, am I flirting?_

"I think I can manage that. See you at six, then?"

"See you at six, Tony. Bye!"

"Bye." _Click._

Her mom was leaning on the banister, tossing Jack-Jack back and forth as he gurgled in delight. "That was very well done, dear."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Mom." But she was secretly very pleased – enough so that Dash's continued kissy faces had no effect, and that she was still beaming when she hustled her dad away from his schematic of the city and into the car.

"Bye, mom! I'll be back around 9:30!"

"Ok. Be good, and be safe, please!"

Sigh. "Whatever, Mom."

"Drive safely, Bob!"

"I'll call you when I've got it set up, honey."

Violet buckled her seat belt in her mom's red sports car. As her dad fired up the ignition, she looked at him and tossed out one of his favorite catchphrases. "Showtime!"


	2. My Dad, Mr Incredible

**AN: **I really appreciate all the feedback I've gotten - its the reviews that really make writing these stories worthwhile. I've taken a few guesses at Bob's history here. Also, please note that all of my Incredibles stories take place in the same universe.

**Disclaimer**: All characters and indica belong to Disney and Pixar, not me.

**Chapter 2: My Dad, Mr. Incredible**

The sports car cruised through the suburbs in the deepening twilight. Violet fixed her hair, looking in the mirror, fixed it again, and then sat in silence, drumming her fingers on

the glove compartment nervously.

"Dad," she said suddenly. "I need a name."

Bob Parr had been a little distracted, still planning his meeting with the National Guard commander later that evening. "You need a what, Violet?"

"A _name_, Dad."

Her dad looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Violet couldn't help but notice the old scarring around his right eye, and made a mental note to ask about it later. "What's wrong with the name you've got? You don't like Violet?"

Violet prayed to whomever was listening for patience when dealing with clueless parents. "Not a _real_ name, Dad. A _super hero_ name. You know, like you are Mr. Incredible and Mom is Elastigirl?"

"Uh huh. Well, have you given it any thought?" her father asked. His voice sounded casual, but Violet caught a strange, intense undercurrent. Despite his light tone, her dad was taking this very seriously.

"Well, a little," she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I don't want to called 'Little Miss Incredible' or 'Incredigirl,' or whatever. No offense to you, dad – it just doesn't seem to fit me very well."

Her father nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. "Choosing your super identity is a very important part of deciding who you become, you know," he said. "Your _real _name is hidden away and closely guarded – only your very closest friends, and your sponsor within the government, knows it. To the rest of the world, including most of the other supers, your 'handle' is your _only _identity. It has to be something that you will be proud to bear, and is should have something to do with who you are, or who you want to be."

Violet wasn't sure she'd ever heard her father speak with such quiet force – she was impressed. "This is a big deal, isn't it?"

"The biggest. Names are powerful – respect them."

"Well, how do I choose, then?"

Her dad was quiet for a minute. "Some people choose their names based on their abilities – your mother, for example, went by Elastigirl because she wanted everyone to know just what it was that made her 'super.' Some people choose them for their personalities or their backgrounds – I knew a girl from Texas who went by Dixie Twist. Never knew her real name. Some people get clever, making little jokes with their names and powers – like Dust Devil, or Gazer Beam."

The red sports car made the turn at the light, heading towards the mall and the Cineplex. "Its more serious for others. Lucius Best was called Chill Out for a little while. When he and I started working together in the late seventies, black people weren't always treated fairly by the public at large, and that went for black superheroes as well. Lucius wanted a name that showed that he wasn't going to apologize for who he was – and so he picked the name Frozone. It was a clever little play on his powers, but it was a statement as well."

"What about you, Dad? Yours doesn't fit any of what you've been telling me."

Her father sighed heavily as he pulled into a parking space. "One thing you've got to understand is that my father was not very supportive of me wanting to be a superhero. He'd been a cop for more than twenty years, and he told me that if I was serious about wanting to help people, I'd join the MPD, and not be some 'tight-wearing self-aggrandizing vigilante.'"

"Hey, that's not what supers are!" Violet said indignantly, unbuckling her seat belt and grabbing her purse.

"Well, your grandfather was a very old-fashioned man. He'd served in the second world war, and come out with a heap of medals. He didn't think that having strange powers was enough to make someone a hero – I don't think he realized that when I wanted to help people, I wanted to follow his example. Anyways, I didn't have a super-identity at the time – after a couple of successful bits of work, the papers started calling me 'the Man of Muscle,' which worked as well as anything else. I was only seventeen at the time, skipping school to go save people..." He paused and looked at Violet with a little grin. "which does _not_ mean you are allowed to skip school to do the same, young lady." Violet grinned cheekily at him.

"Anyways, I had just come home late one afternoon, all bruised up and covered in rubble. There was a villain who called himself California Bedrock, who could turn himself into stone – we got into a fight. I'm sorry to say I came out second-best, and Bedrock escaped when the police arrived." Violet sat in the darkened car, listening in awe. Her dad _never_ talked about his heroics before he met her mother. She knew that he and Lucius had been friends, but all this was totally new.

"Well, I came home, my dad was getting into uniform – he'd been called to do an extra shift, because Bedrock was causing so much damage. Well he takes one look at me, and lays into me for showboating and being irresponsible. It was the loudest fight we'd ever gotten in to – and it continued until I got so angry that I punched a wall. Punched a hole clean through it. 'Well, I guess you are happy just going off and being some kind of Mr. Incredible,' Dad said, and he buckled on his gun and left." There was a long silence. It seemed to Violet that her dad was fighting very hard to keep his voice under control.

"Looking back, I think he was just worried about me, and didn't really know how to express it. That evening was the last time I ever spoke to him. Later that evening, I heard on the radio that Bedrock attacked the police station and destroyed it. By the time I got there, it was nothing but rubble – I tore the station apart looking for him, but it was too late. He had been crushed."

"Oh my God, Dad, I had no idea..."

"I found Bedrock later that night. When it was all over, the police collected him. As far as I know, he's still rotting in Roswell Superhuman Prison. Someone asked me who I was, why I had risked myself to stop him... and I knew that I needed a name. I decided to take the name Mr. Incredible, in memory of my father – so I would always remember that you didn't need to be super to be a hero."

"Wow. I had no idea it was such a big deal," Violet said uncertainly as she exited the car. "I guess I'll give it some more thought." She watched a little apprehensively as her dad seemed to shake off his reverie, and then smiled down at her.

"You got me talking too much, Flower. No need to look so serious!" he said, gently chucking her on the chin. "I'm sure that whatever you'll decide will be perfect."

Violet rolled her eyes again. "Dad, I think I outgrew that nickname like six years ago. Anyways, there's no rush, right? I've got plenty of time to think it over!" Actually, all thoughts of being a superheroine flew out of her mind about three seconds later. "Oh look, there's Tony!" she squealed, waving enthusiastically.

Tony Ridinger spotted them, and jogged over. He was wearing blue jeans, sneakers, and a black long-sleeved shirt which Violet thought looked very nice on him. _He still needs a haircut_, she thought, and had to stifle a giggle.

"Hi Violet," he said, smiling nervously. "Hi Mr. Parr," he said, deepening his voice and trying to look as mature and responsible as he could. He stuck out a hand.

"Hello, Tony," Bob said, taking Tony's hand in a massive fist and shaking it seriously. Turning to his daughter, he handed her a small red phone. "You two have a good time. Violet, if there are any problems, you can call your mother on the... on her _personal cell phone_, and she'll send someone to pick you up, ok? I've got to meet the Colonel, and your mom and I might have to work late tonight." Violet raised her eyebrows at her dad. She knew he was about to say _on the Incrediphone_, and caught himself at the last minute. That her parents were working late was one of the prearranged codes – it meant that Mom and Dad, and possibly Dash, would be on an evening patrol.

"Alright, Dad. Good luck with your meeting, and Tony's mom will give me a ride home, so don't worry!"

As her father zoomed off towards the city, Violet looked at Tony. There was a short but awkward silence. "So," Violet said, too brightly, "how about we go grab some dinner, huh?"

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, good plan," Tony said. The two of them set off through the mall, going generally towards the food court at the far end. If they stayed a little closer than they normally would, and "accidentally" bumped each other every couple of steps, no one objected.

"So you said there was a good Chinese place around here?"

"Yeah, its great! Lemme see if I can find it..."

"Hey, look at the toy store! I didn't know they were making Mr. Incredible action figures! Wow, he is _so_ cool. I'd love to be a superhero..."

Violet thought briefly of her dad, driving off to a meeting, trying to keep the city safe. It was nice to be super, she guessed, but it was also kind of nice to be normal for a while. Just a normal girl on a night out.


	3. Competition

**AN: **I was really gratified to read that people are enjoying this story.

**Leaper182**: I'm thrilled that you felt it was like the conversation between Helen and the kids in the cave – that was exactly what I was going for.

**Starchild524**: _everyone_ has a little brother (or cousin, or at least friend) like Dash. I just projected my little sister into him, and pressed 'fast-forward.' I'll try to avoid the clichés phrases from now on.

**Dragon of Venus**: We'll see Tony suggest a name in this chapter. I don't know if Violet will go for it, though.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Competition**

The two kids sitting at a small metal table in the Food Court would not have stood out from any of the dozens that swarmed the mall every weekend. The boy was a little taller than average, with that slight gangly awkwardness that comes part and parcel with the onset of adolescence. He wore it well, though, with a confident smile and fashionably messy hair. The girl sitting across from him was exceptionally slender, with slightly tired eyes and a perky grin that seemed at odds with her long black hair and nervous posture.

Violet laughed aloud as Tony finished his story, and Tony beamed at her. Violet thought that the evening was going really well so far – her 'date' had done most of the talking, and was very entertaining. He had even offered to pay for her dinner (which Violet thought was charming, if a little old-fashioned), and seemed slightly disappointed when she thanked him, but paid for herself. She told him he was still paying for the movie tickets, though, which seemed to cheer him back up. _Boys._

Tony twirled his chopsticks around his fingertips expertly, then reached across the table and unapologetically stole one of Violet's chicken fingers. "Your dad said that he had a meeting with somebody," he said casually, examining his capture. "What do your parents do for a living, anyways?"

_Do NOT panic._ Violet briefly froze in the middle of grabbing a forkful of Tony's pork fried rice. "Sorry, what did you say?" she asked, stalling for time.

Tony popped the chicken finger in his mouth, chewed for a few seconds, and swallowed. "I was just wondering what your parents did, is all."

"Oh. Well, Mom and Dad work for the government," Violet said carefully, going with the family's agreed-upon cover story. "Have you heard that they reinstated the old FBSA?"

"The Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs? Your folks work with the superheroes? That's _awesome_!" Tony exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's why all those government agents were at our house when it got scorched," she said, warming to the story.

"I wondered about that – I saw on the news that your house got damaged when Mr. Incredible fought that Syndrome guy, a few weeks ago. That must have been something to watch," he said excitedly. Then he looked at her apologetically. "I _am_ sorry about your house, though. I'm glad that you all got out okay."

Violet smiled wryly. _Boys_. "Thanks Tony. That's nice of you to say."

"So, your Mom and Dad work with the heroes, huh. Is that why your dad had to go into the city tonight?"

Violet shrugged. "Yeah, Mom and Dad are working with the National Guard, trying to catch the Underminer..."

"Oh man! You know, that Underminer creep showed up right after you left the track meet on Wednesday. I actually saw Mr. Incredible and a few other superheroes fight him!"

Violet smiled to herself. _It's nice to be popular_, she thought ironically. "Really? Well, it seems like we missed the excitement. What happened?"

"Oh, man, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. The bad guy had this huge tank that looked like a _drill_, if you can believe it. He was shouting out on this megaphone how he was going to destroy the city, or whatever, and then _BAM_!" Tony gestured to give his words more emphasis. "Out of nowhere comes these four supers! Mr. Incredible started ripping up the tank, and then the two girls take on the Underminer himself. The fourth super was running through the parking lot, hustling people out of the way, to make sure nobody got hurt – its weird, too, 'cuz he was little, and had a high voice. Like he was a kid, or something."

Violet knew she had to distract him from _that_ line of thought. If Tony made the connection between Dash the Hero and Dash the Annoying Little Brother, well, the evening could only go downhill from there. "So what did you do?"

"Well, my little brother was at the meet, so I ran back into the stadium and told everybody to stay there until it was safe. It was kind of crazy – people were running everywhere, cars were getting smashed in the parking lot, it was nuts. Dad got out his cell phone and called the police, and I got one of the officials to broadcast over the loudspeakers and tell everybody to stay calm."

Violet nodded. "That was smart of you," she said. She remembered being grateful that there weren't more innocent bystanders at the time – it was a good thing that people had kept a level head when the Underminer had shown up. "I bet you really helped those supers out, Tony."

"You think so?" he asked, pleased. "Well, my little brother decided to be an idiot, and climbed up to the top of stadium so he could watch. Said that he wanted to see the superheroes in action. I went up to get him and bring him down, but while he was up there he was almost hit by a flying car!"

"Oh my god! Really?" _There is no way that idiot was Tony's little brother, was it?_

"Yeah – luckily, Miss Disappear was right there, and threw up a some kind of wall that knocked the car away." _Yep, that was him – wait, what did he call me?_

"Wait, what did you call m- uh, her?"

"You mean that superhero girl? Um, I called her 'Miss Disappear.' I guess I just heard it from someone..."

"Miss Disappear, huh? That's got kind of a nice ring to it," Violet mused.

"Yeah, she was _awesome_. She disappeared again before I could get a good look at her, though. Anyways, I brought James – that's my brother, by the way, have you met him yet? – back to Mom and Dad. He is _so_ grounded right now," he added with a grin. "Once the police arrived and told us everything was ok, we found our car and went home. Luckily, ours was still intact – I know a bunch of people had their cars smashed up."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay..." Violet said, only to be interrupted by another girl, who had walked up to their table.

"Tony!" Sarah Satterlee squealed. Violet forced back a scowl – it was well known that Sarah had a thing for Tony, like half the girls at Metroville Middle School. _Can't she see that I'm on a date, here?_

"Um, hi Sarah," Tony said, his eyes darting from her to Violet and back again. "Sarah, you know Violet Parr."

"Oh, hi there, Shrinking Violet," Sarah said in a falsely sweet tone. "Didn't see you there."

"Hello," Violet said through gritted teeth. She glanced at her watch pointedly. "Well, it's been nice talking to you Sarah, but time does fly, doesn't it?"

"Oh, do _you_ have somewhere to go?" Sarah said venomously. Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing at the two girls like a trapped animal. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, and then words seemed to fail him and he shut it again.

"Yes, _Tony _and I have to catch a movie at seven o'clock," Violet said, leaving no doubt as to her meaning.

Sarah fixed her a glare before turning on Tony. "What a coincidence," she exclaimed. "I was just heading there myself! Oh, Tony, why didn't you _tell_ me that you were going tonight? See, Tony and I go to the movies together all the time, don't we?"

Violet looked on in horror as Sarah smoothly hijacked her date. She felt her anger rise up to choke her, but she kept it down. _I refuse to sit back and simply let this happen_, she told herself, rising up from her seat pushing her chair back in with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Um," Tony said eloquently before being physically hauled from his seat by Sarah. He kept looking at Violet helplessly, only to see her staring holes into him in return.

The three of them headed towards the movie theater. That is to say, Sarah frog-marched Tony towards the movie theater, while an incensed Violet stalked on Tony's other side. She grit her teeth ever time Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but the worst was when the girl cooed "Ooh, Tony, I heard you talking about how you helped out against the Underminer. Tony, you were so brave... I don't know _what_ I would have done..."

Violet was almost stiff with anger. Sarah wasn't going to get away with this. Violet had faced evil on a scale that Miss Satterlee couldn't comprehend – and if Sarah thought she could run roughshod on quiet, shy Shrinking Violet like she used to, she had another thing coming to her.

* * *

**AN 2:** For those of you wondering, Sarah is based on the extremely, ahem, 'well-developed' middle school girl who giggles and waves at Tony when we first meet Violet, and who Tony's friends tease him about. The name is taken from a girl who was mean to my little sister on _her_ first date. 


	4. Everyday Heroes

**AN: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed - particularly StarChild524 and Zack Anderson, for their truly inspiring reviews and their suggestions. Another particular thank-you to my beta-reader, the talented miss Esunamoon, whose fic _Out of Bounds_ will hopefully be coming to soon! Go see it as soon as its up, she has some great stuff.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Everyday Heroes**

_Just who does she think that she is, anyways?_ Sarah had finally released her death-grip on Tony as the three of them approached the mall's cineplex. The redhead still hovered annoyingly around Tony, keeping up a ceaseless chatter and always positioning herself so that Violet and Tony couldn't even really communicate with each other.

_She could give criminals lessons in breaking up hero-teams,_ Violet thought bitterly. _I'm playing this the way Sarah wants me to_, she fumed to herself. _She's so sure that Shrinking Violet isn't going to speak up – that I'd rather have my date snatched out from under me than make a fuss._

Which was, of course, ridiculous! Did Sarah think that, after facing off against Syndrome and the Underminer, Violet Parr was going to be intimidated by a barely pubescent girl with a brainless giggle and a wonder-bra?

_Time to regain the initiative, Violet. You can do this!_ Violet squared her narrow shoulders and stepped directly into Sarah's path, interrupting her. "Sarah, I need to speak to Tony for just a minute. Would you mind saving us some spots in the line?"

Sarah looked at her in shock. Then her eyes narrowed. Whatever scathing remark she was going to make, however, was very neatly derailed when Tony said, "Yeah, that would be great, Sarah. Thanks so much!"

The hostility dropped like a mask. "Oh, anytime, _Tony_," she simpered. Tony beamed at her, but as soon as she turned her back he and Violet put their heads together for a hurried conference.

"Tony," Violet said quietly, "I like you, but if you don't do _something_, I'm leaving." _Oh my God. I just gave Tony Ridinger an ultimatum… Oh, I am so dumped…_

Apparently not, actually. "What do you want me to do, Vi? I can't just say 'Sarah, I'm on a date here, please go away,'" Tony hissed back, keeping a wary eye on the ticket line.

Violet scowled. "Why not?"

"You just can't! Do you have any idea what they would say at school if I did?"

Violet took a deep breath, and then blew it out. "Tony, it's no great secret that I really don't care what _they_ say."

He gave her a look that was half admiring, and half exasperated. "I know _you_ don't, Violet. That was the thing that I thought was so cool about you – you do your own thing, and you're not affected by what anybody says."

Violet felt a tiny bit of heat in her cheeks at the compliment. _At least, I think it was a compliment. _"So, what's the problem exactly? If you are embarrassed to have asked me out…"

"No! It's not that. It's just, well… some of my friends don't think that your independence is as cool as I do. They gave me a pretty hard time when I asked you out, and if I just go tell Sarah to, you know, take a hike, I'll really never hear the end of it."

Violet was a little hurt, and considered saying something nasty about some of Tony's friends, but she was also touched that Tony was willing to absorb a little flack to go out with her, so she didn't. She suddenly had an idea. "Well, what about if _I_ do something about it? Will you back me up?"

Tony's eyes lit up with mischief and his lip curled into an evil grin. "I think that would be wicked," he replied.

Tony squeezed her hand as the two of them headed back towards the ticket line. The next few minutes were filled with chatter as the three of them seemed to talk amiably. In truth, however, a tiny war was taking place as Sarah constantly moved about, trying to separate Violet from Tony, while Violet stayed close. Violet gripped Tony's hand tightly, and didn't even try to hide a satisfied smirk when Sarah was unable to split them up.

Violet was pretty sure that Tony, with typical male cluelessness, wasn't aware that the girls were jockeying for position, but even he couldn't miss Sarah getting more and more frustrated, while Violet's grin grew ever wider. He smiled slyly at his date, and gave her a tiny wink when he was sure that nobody was watching.

Finally Sarah, impatient with her continuing lack of success, switched tactics. "Oh, Tony," she giggled, "I think I need to slip into the ladies' room for a second, okay? Violet, why don't you come? We can keep each other company!"

It was a pretty obvious ploy, but this was what Violet had been hoping would happen, so she played along. "Oh, sure thing, Sarah!" she said with just the slightest trace of sarcasm. "But we'd better hurry – Tony said he would buy _my_ ticket, but we wouldn't want _you_ to have to wait in line again, would we?"

She smirked as Sarah's eyes turned to ice. _Score: Miss Disappear, 1, Wonderbra Woman, 0._

The redhead laughed falsely, and then turned on her heel and marched towards the girls' bathroom. Violet followed casually behind. She threw the slightly confused Tony a significant look, and he just shrugged. _Boys_.

By the time Violet got inside the bathroom, Sarah was already adjusting her makeup in the mirror over the sinks. Violet leaned against the wall by the towel dispenser and waited for Sarah to say something.

"Who do you think you are?" Sarah finally hissed, putting her lip gloss back into her purse.

"Funny," Violet said coldly, "I was thinking the same thing. See, I'm here to see a movie with Tony. I'm not quite sure what _you_ are doing."

"Listen, Shrinking Violet," Sarah said menacingly, "I don't know what kind of deal or blackmail or whatever else you did with Tony to get him to go out with you, but get this straight: he is _too good for you_. Do you really think that Tony Ridinger would want to date you? Pale, flat, invisible Violet, who wears too-baggy sweaters and hide behinds that nasty curtain you call _hair_?"

"Are you done?" Violet asked calmly.

"For the moment," Sarah seethed.

"Let me tell you what, Sarah – you seem to be missing one thing. Tony asked _me_ on a date. He didn't ask _you_. He could have. Even he couldn't have missed the signs you were giving him. But he didn't want to. He wanted to go with me."

Violet approached Sarah, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "And you know what? When we go back out there, he'll _still_ want to be with me. I'm giving you one chance to just leave, right now, and we'll never speak of this again. Otherwise, if you ruin my date, I will make sure that when I get home, I will call everyone I know, and tell them that you did everything short of stick your tongue in his mouth and he _still _didn't like you. He preferred pale, flat, invisible Shrinking Violet to _you. _And they will call everyone they know, and so on, and by Monday, the entire junior high is going to be talking about it." Her voice grew progressively quieter until she ended her statement with a whisper.

Sarah stared at her, embarrassment and rage in her features.

"Now, please leave. You are wrecking my date."

Sarah moved numbly to the bathroom door, but before she left, a little bit of her old fire came back. "Tony will get sick of you, you know. You're just a fling, and he'll get bored. You are nobody incredible."

Violet grinned at the unintentional joke. _Oh, Sarah, how little you know_. "Goodnight, Sarah."

Sarah Satterlee slammed the bathroom door behind her and stormed out of the theater. Violet slumped against the wall and released a long, shuddering breath. "I can't believe that worked…" she said to herself.

Violet rejoined Tony just as he was purchasing the tickets ("Two for the 7:05 _Songbirds Fallen_, please."). He presented Violet her ticket stub with a flourish.

"What did you say?" he asked, amazed. "I've never seen anyone leave a movie theater so fast."

"Oh, I just pointed out that it would be in her best interest to find something to do elsewhere," Violet said sweetly.

Tony smiled and hesitantly slipped his hand back into hers. "Well, remind me never to make you mad," he teased.

"Oh, I'm sure it will come up at some time," Violet shot back. "Oh God! I almost forgot our popcorn! Here, you go get us some seats, and I'll be right there, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Theater six."

"Okay, I'll find you!"

Violet pulled her wallet out of her purse and stood in line at the concession stand. "I am having the best night _ever_," she cheerfully informed the cashier.

"That's nice," said the girl in a bored tone. "Would you like butter or salt on your popcorn?"

"Both, please."

By the time Violet paid for her bag of popcorn (which was easily enough to feed a third-world country for a week) and got to the theater, the lights were dimming. Tony was sitting near the back. She found her seat, put the popcorn between them and snuggled up next to him.

_I'm glad we got this back on track,_ Violet thought. _I hope the rest of the night goes smoothly_. Still, she reasoned, nothing was going to arise that she couldn't handle, right? After all, she was a super hero. What could go wrong?


End file.
